The disclosure relates generally to coating apparatus and methods, and more specifically to physical vapor deposition.
Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition (EB-PVD) processes and apparatus utilize a cloud of vaporized material which is solidified upon at least one workpiece surface in a deposition chamber. Vaporized material for deposition can be generated by energizing feedstock material which can be retained in a conductive crucible.
Despite efforts at identifying favorable coating parameters, there are frequently issues around the edges of vapor clouds and with uniformly exposing surfaces of certain irregularly shaped workpieces to the vapor plume(s). Coating multiple workpieces in a chamber increases the risk of irregular or uneven application due to overlapping vapor plumes from multiple feedstocks distributed through the chamber.